YOUR 90 DAY

LEARNING
PHOTOGRAPHY
BLUEPRINT & GUIDE
BLUEPRINT & GUIDE
A 3 Month Roadmap to help you know what to
focus on first, and next, in your photography
journey!

LIVE SNAP LOVE

www.livesnaplove.com
 YOUR 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY
BLUEPRINT & GUIDE

Welcome to your 90 Day blueprint and guide for learning photography!

My name is Audrey Ann, and I’m the creator of the Live Snap Love blog
and the “Auto to Awesome” online course for new photographers. I spend
my days teaching people how to master their cameras so that they can
start producing beautiful images in less time, and with less frustration!

Learning photography can feel difficult at times, and one of the most
common complaints I get from people is that they don't know where to
start, or what they should be focusing on next.

So I created this blueprint to give you a resource that you could refer to
throughout your photography journey, so you never have to feel lost or
wonder what you should be doing next!

Ready to get started? Let's go!

Audrey

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint
 MONTH 1: UNDERSTAND EXPOSURE

Step One: Learn the Exposure Triangle

Exposure (simply how light or how dark an image is) is such a crucial concept in
photography, and it's where you're going to start your photography journey! The
concept of the Exposure Triangle is how the three elements of exposure always have to
be balanced to create the correct exposure.

To learn more: Understanding the Exposure Triangle - A Beginners Guide

Step Two: Learn Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO

Next, you're going to get a more in depth knowledge of the three exposure elements,
Aperture, ISO and Shutter Speed. Learn what each element does with regard to letting
light into the camera sensor, but also how your image looks. Here is when you can take
your first steps away from AUTO and learn how to shoot in Shutter Priority Mode, or
Aperture Priority Mode.

Here's a brief introduction to the three elements of exposure.

1. Aperture: is basically the size of an opening – a hole really - in your lens that lets light
into your sensor. A large opening allows more light in, and a smaller opening, less light.
Aperture also controls depth of field, which is how much of our image is going to be in
focus.

2. Shutter Speed refers to the speed in which the shutter of your camera opens and
closes.(Think of these as curtains over your aperture/hole) If the shutter opens and
closes slowly, it lets lots of light into the camera. If the shutter opens and closes again
very fast, less light is able to get in. Shutter speed also controls how motion is captured,
in other words, whether we show the motion through blurring, or freeze the motion.

3. ISO is our camera’s sensitivity to the light that your aperture and shutter speed let hit
the sensor. ISO doesn't allow light into the camera in the same way as the other two
elements - it simply works with the light that the Aperture and Shutter Speed have
allowed in.

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint
 Step Three: Shoot in Manual Mode

Shooting in manual mode is when you control ALL three aspects of exposure yourself,
and get to decide which aperture, ISO and shutter speeds "numbers" to use. Learning
manual mode is an absolute must if you want to get great photos! You're going to
choose these numbers based on two different factors - how much light there is in the
scene you're photographing in, and how you want the scene to look.

To learn more: How to choose your camera settings in manual mode

Step Four: Fine Tune

Once you have the basics of shooting in manual mode down, this is when you need to
move onto fine tuning your exposure (so that you're not simply as a way of balancing
exposure in the same way that your camera would!) Learn how to expose for different
areas of the scene, AND how to manipulate these elements to give your image different
looks.

This is when shooting in manual mode becomes such a game changer because you can
handle anything that is thrown at you - such as low light, backlight, creative exposure,
and many, many other areas where the camera struggles on it’s own.

YOUR CHECKLIST FOR MONTH ONE:

Learn the exposure triangle

Understand shutter speed
Understand Aperture & Depth of Field
Understand ISO
Start shooting in Aperture Priority Mode
Learn about metering
Start shooting in manual mode
Learn how to set a custom exposure
Learn when to shoot "over" or "under"
Learn how to read histograms and highlight warnings

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint
 MONTH 2: LEARN ABOUT LIGHT

Step Five: Learn how to use available light INDOORS

Light literally is everything in photography, as without it, we can’t make a photograph.
But even more than that, the right use of light can make or break your image. A well
thought out image or amazing location can be let down by a poor use of light, whilst the
most boring, mundane everyday scene can look wall worthy and artistic, just by the use
of light. So, where do you start?!

I recommend that you start INDOORS rather than outdoors. I know this seems counter
intuitive, as there is more light outdoors than inside, but you can control the light much
easier indoors, and where your subject is in the relation to the light.

If you are new to using light proactively (rather than just placing your subject wherever!)
the best way to start lighting your subject is to have them face TOWARD the light. So you
will have your subject face the window and you the photographer will be in between the
window and your subject.  This gives an even lighting on your subject which is always
uber flattering, and very easy to photograph in as you don't have big contrasts of light.
Once you have that down, you can move onto having your window to the side of your
subject, or at a 45 degree angle to the light.

To learn more: 5 Natural Light Tips for Beginners

Step Six : Learn how to use available light OUTDOORS

Once you have shooting indoors down, move outdoors - again, keep it simple at first by
using open shade, then move onto cloudy days, and then full sun and golden hour light.
Also consider how to light your subjects from different ways such as from the front, side
and behind. As a side note, for you to get the best results, then you are definitely going to
want to be shooting in manual mode - so be sure to learn that first, before moving onto
the different types of light!

To learn more: How to Find and Use Open Shade in Photography

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint
 Step Seven: Learn the color of Light

Throughout the day, the color of light keeps changing. From sunrise to high noon to early
evening, all have a different color and tint.  Artificial light also emits a different color - for
example tungsten (lightbulb) light is different from the light produced by a flash. Our
eyes can automatically adjust for these changes in temperature, so we don't often don't
see these changes in color.

We want our camera to compensate for these changes in color, so that the color tone is
neutral - in other words where white is white and black is black.   This is called White
Balance, because we are balancing the colors in camera to get a correct tone.  If we get
the white balance wrong, then we will have a color cast on an entire image - where
white would look slightly (or very!) yellow, or blue.   

Broadly speaking, our goal in photography is to get the correct color tone for the
conditions we are photographing in by setting our OWN white balance!

Step Eight: Get Creative!

Once you understand how to shoot indoors and outdoors in all types of light, you can
start to get all clever and creative. Shoot silhouttes, reflections and shadows for more
interesting images.

YOUR CHECKLIST FOR MONTH TWO:

Use front light for shooting indoors

Use side light, and backlight shooting indoors
Learn how to use open shade outdoors
Learn how to shoot in cloudy overcast weather
Learn how to shoot in full sun
Learn how to shoot in the golden hour
Learn how to use Reflectors
Learn about white balance
Learn how to set a custom white balance
Get creative with silhouettes, shadows and reflections
Switch to shooting in the RAW file format

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint
 MONTH 3: FOCUS & COMPOSITION

Step Nine: Learn about focus

Getting tack sharp focus can be challenging for ALL levels of photographers, but when
you are just starting out, it can sometimes feel downright impossible, not to mention
frustrating! But there are loads of different settings and techniques you can use that can
really help increase your hit rate of keepers. Start by learning how to get sharp focus
with still subjects, then move onto how to get sharp focus with moving subjects.

To learn more: Why are my images blurry?

Step Ten: Try out different compositions

Now that we have all the technical side down, it's time to unleash our creative side!
That'a because when our brain is not so tied up in the technical part of what we're
doing, we have the bandwidth to get more artistic. Start with the simple composition
rule of thirds, before moving onto more advanced composition rules.

To learn more: 5 Photography Composition Tips for Better Photos

Step Eleven: Practice!

Practice without knowledge is pointless, but practice WITH all the right knowledge
under your belt is priceless. The more you lift that camera to your eye, the more muscle
memory you build in, and before you know it, you'll be changing your settings quickly
and more intuitively, and get more artistic and creative.

YOUR CHECKLIST FOR MONTH THREE:

Learn the 3 main focus techniques

Learn the 3 main focusing modes
Switch to manual focus select
Learn how to establish clarity
Learn the rules of thirds & symmetry composition tools
Understand the composition rules for portraits
Learn more advanced compositional rules such as leading lines, diagonals, shapes and
framing.

WWW.LIVESNAPLOVE.COM / THE 90 DAY LEARNING PHOTOGRAPHY BLUEPRINT

www.audreyannphoto.com/blueprint